Opened 14 November 2001 Total length 640 m Bridge type Swing bridge | Height 60 m Longest span 340 m Body of water Suez Canal | |
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Address Al Qantarah Sharq, Ismailia Governorate, Egypt Similar Suez Canal Bridge, Swing bridge, Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel, Hörn Bridge, Slauerhoffbrug | ||
The El Ferdan Railway Bridge is a swing bridge that spans the Suez Canal near Ismailia, Egypt. It is the longest swing bridge in the world, with a span of 1,100 feet (340 m).
Contents
History
The first El Ferdan Railway Bridge over the Suez Canal was completed in April 1918 for the Palestine Military Railway. It was considered a hindrance to shipping so after the First World War it was removed. A steel swing bridge was built in 1942 (during the Second World War), but this was damaged by a steamship and removed in 1947. A double swing bridge was completed in 1954 but the 1956 Anglo-Franco-Israeli war with Egypt severed rail traffic across the canal for a third time. A replacement bridge was completed in 1963 which was destroyed in 1967 in the Six-Day War by the Egyptian engineering General Ahmed Hamdy. The current bridge was constructed in 2001.
Significant developments in the region
The El Ferdan Railway Bridge was part of a major drive to develop the areas surrounding the Suez Canal, including other projects such as the Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel under the Suez Canal (completed in 1983), the Suez Canal overhead powerline crossing, and the Suez Canal Bridge (completed in 2001, roughly 12 miles north of the El Ferdan Railway Bridge).
The bridge today
Another channel was dug in 2014/2015, and there is a need for another bridge there. Therefore El Ferdan bridge with the present situation, is obsolete.